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National Semiconductor Sets Signal Integrity Benchmark With New High-Speed Buffer and Multiplexer Family

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SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- National Semiconductor Corporation (NYSE: NSM), a leading supplier of high-speedinterface devices, today introduced four new current-mode logic (CML)signal-conditioning buffers and multiplexers with 25-pico seconds of jitter for the best signal integrity in the industry. The family features integratedequalizers and programmable pre-emphasis for low-jitter and error-freetransmission of multi-gigabit traffic over low-cost printed circuit board materials, copper cabling and fiber optics. The products' improved serialinput/output performance, six kilovolts (6 KV) of electro-static discharge(ESD) protection and added redundancy enhance application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs) and field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) data-transmission performance.

The DS25BR400 and DS42BR400, configured as quad transceivers or eight-channel buffers, provide a high level of integration for high-speed data-transmission applications. The DS25BR400 operates up to 2.5 Gbps and theDS42BR400 operates up to 4.25 Gbps. The DS25MB200 and DS42MB200 are dual,signal-conditioning 2:1 multiplexers and 1:2 fan-out buffers (dual channelmux-buffers) designed for use in redundancy data paths.

National fabricates the buffer and multiplexer family on National's proprietary BiCMOS8 process technology in its South Portland , Maine, facility. This state-of-the-art silicon germanium process enables the devices to achieve the lowest jitter and power performance in the industry.

Industry-Leading Signal Integrity

Multi-gigabit applications often require signal-integrity features, such as equalization and boost, for reliable data transfer between the source and destination. With its industry-leading 25 picoseconds of jitter, National's new buffer and multiplexer family enables error-free transmission across more than 80 inches of FR-4 backplanes. Backplane applications include XAUI and fiber channel, as well as the emerging standards for third-generation cellularbase stations such as the common public radio interface (CPRI) and open base station standard architecture initiative (OBSAI). The buffer and multiplexersalso work at up to 15 meters of PCI Express, SATA, CAT6/CAT7, DVI, HDMI and Infiniband cables.

An input equalizer that removes inter-symbol interference (ISI) jitter precedes each input buffer, compensating for up to 5 dB of transmission loss, which results in reducing output jitter to as low as 25-picoseconds. Also, the outputs feature adjustable de-emphasis to reduce deterministic jitter.These features, coupled with typical edge rates as fast as 80-picoseconds, high channel-to-channel noise immunity, low output skew and industry-leading power at less than 140 mW per channel, make the family of buffers and multiplexers an ideal signal-conditioning solution.